Allegations on Fadhaail-e-A’maal

Are there Baseless Stories in the Fazaail A’maal that harm the Aqeedah (Beliefs)?

QUOTE 1: Moulana Zakariyya mentions in Fazaail-e-Hajj, “Once one of the Abdaal met Khidr and inquired from him whether he had ever met anyone among the saints whom he considered higher in rank than himself. To this he replied, ‘Yes, I have. I was present once in the Masjid in Medina, where I saw Hazrat Sheikh Abdur Razzak directing Hadith to his students. On one side was a young man sitting with his head bent on his knees. I went to him and addressed him thus, ‘do you not see the gathering listening to the words of Rasoolullah. Why do you not join them?’ Without lifting up his head or turning in my direction the youth answered: “Over there you see those who listen to the Hadith from the mouth of Abdur-Razzak (the slave of the Sustainer), while over here you see him who listens to Hadith directly from Ar-Razzak (Allah).” Khidr said to him, “If what you say is true then you should be able to tell me who I am. Who am I?” He lifted up his head and said, ‘If my intuition does not fail me then you are Khidr.’ Hazrat Khidr said, “From that I realized that among the saints of Allah there are such who are so exalted in rank that I cannot recognize them.”

[Fazaail-e-A’maal, Virtues of Hajj, (Eng. Trans.), Chapter.9, story no.9, p.171, (New Edition 1982, Published by Dini Book Depot – Delhi).]

NOTE: The Deobandi translator of Ikhmaalush Shiyaam defines an Abdaal saying, “Abdaal are a class of Auliyaa whose identities remain concealed. They possess miraculous powers and execute a variety of tasks under Divine Command in various places of the world.” (Astagfirullah) [Ikhmaalush Shiyaam (Eng. Trans.) p.59.]

This Deviant Story Promotes that the false belief that someone can receive knowledge directly from Allah without the mediation of the Messenger (Sallallaahu alaiyhi wa-Sallam) and to receive knowledge from Allah is something specific for the Messengers. This store make this so-called Abdaal equal to Prophet Moose (Alayhis-salaam) and our Messenger Muhammad (Sallallaahu alaiyhi wa-Sallam) who spoke directly to Allah.

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QUOTE 2: Allah says in the Qur’an, “Verily! Allah, with Him (Alone) is the knowledge of the Hour, He sends down the rain, and knows that which is in the womb. No person knows what he will earn tomorrow, and no person knows what land he will die. Verily, Allah is All-Knower, All-Aware.” [Surah Luqman (31): 34]

But the Fazaail A’maal says, “Abul Husain Maliki says that he associated with Sheikh Khair Nurbaf for several years. The Sheikh said to him, eight days before his death. ‘I shall die on Thursday evening, at the time of Maghrib Salaat, and I shall be buried on Friday after Jumu’ah Salaat.” Although, he advised me not to forget, but I forgot about it and, on Friday morning, a man told me about the Sheikh’s death. I immediately went to his place… asked people the details of the Sheikh’s experience of death. A person… narrated to me that the Sheikh swooned for a while just before Maghrib Salaat. Then, he recovered somewhat and said to someone in the corner of the room, who was invisible to others, ‘Stop for a while; you have been commanded to do a thing and I have been commanded to do a thing. That which you are commanded to do (viz. to take my life) will not escape you, but that which I am commanded to do (viz. to observe Maghrib Salaat) will escape me. Let me do as I am commanded.” He then called for water, made a fresh Wudhu and performed Maghrib Salaat. After this, he laid himself on the bed, closed his eyes and gave up his life.”

[Fazaail-e-A’maal, (Eng. Trans.) Virtues of Charity, Chapter.6, p.609, (2nd South African Impression 1414-1993. Published by Waterval Islamic Institute)]

This Deviant Story Promotes that certain individuals know the place and time of their death and even make the Angel of Death wait until they have finished their prayers.

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QUOTE 3: Moulana Zakariyya mentions in Fazaail-e-A’maal, Sheikh Abu Yazeed Qurtubi heard from someone that whoever recited it (the Kalimah: La-Ilaaha ill-Allah-ho) seventy thousand times he or she would be immune from the fire of the Hell. He completed a course accordingly for his wife and many other courses for himself. There lived a youth nearby who, it was said was ‘a man of Kashf’ and had the foreknowledge of the events of Paradise and Hell. One day it so happened that while sharing a meal with him he suddenly made a loud cry and began to gasp, and exclaimed that his mother had been cast into Hell (burning into the fire of Hell). Sheikh Qurtubi keenly observed the condition of the youth and decided to offer a course for his mother secretly so that the fact that the youth possessed a foreknowledge of the Unseen and the truth of his mother’s sad plight in Hell would be ascertained. The Sheikh said that he did it so secretly that nobody could knew it, except the Almighty, Allah. But the youth soon expressed his gratitude and said that now his mother had got rid of the Fire of Hell.

[See, Fazaail-e-A’maal, (Eng. Trans.), Virtues of Dhikr , Chapter.3 (Part – 3), p.59 (Edt. 1985, Published by Dini Book Depot – Delhi).]

In this Deviant Story, the knowledge of the conditions of Paradise and Hell-Fire and the knowledge of future events is claimed for the so-called ‘man of Kashf’. He is also aware of the matters between Allah and his slaves, and therefore shows gratitude to Sheikh Qurtubi, even though Sheikh Qurtubi “did it so secretly that nobody could know it, except the Almighty, Allah.”

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QUOTE 4: “Hazrat Ibn Jalaa relates, “While in Medina I once suffered tremendous hunger. It became so unbearable that I presented myself at the grave of Rasoolullah and said, “O Rasoolullah, I suffer great hunger. I am now your guest.” Thereafter, sleep overtook me and in a vision, I saw Rasoolullah give me a piece of bread. I ate half of it, and when I woke up, I found myself with the other half of that piece of bread still in my hands.”

[Fazaail-e-A’maal, (Eng. Trans.), Virtues of Hajj, Chapter.9, story no.23, p.178, (New Edition 1982, Published by Dini Book Depot –Delhi)]

Yet in another story, three men fasted for days on end since they could not find food. One of them went to the grave of Rasoolullah and said: “O Rasoolullah hunger has overtaken us.” Soon afterwards … “a man from Alawi family knocked at the door. We opened the door and found a man with two servants, each one carrying a large basket with many delicious foods.” The man from the Alawi family said before leaving, “You have complained about hunger to Rasoolullah. I have seen Rasoolullah in a dream and he commanded me to bring food to you.”

[Fazaail-e-A’maal, (Eng. Trans.), Virtues of Hajj, Chapter.9, p.177, story no.22, (New Edition 1982. Published by Dini Book Depot – Delhi). Similar stories have been mentioned on p.179 (story no.27) and p.181 (story no.29)]

“Once a group of Arabs went to visit the grave of a very generous person and stayed there for the night. One of them in a dream saw the man of the grave who asked him to sell his camel for his Bakhti camel (Bakhti is a good kind of camel). The man agreed and the man of the grave stood and slaughtered the camel. When the man woke up, he found it bleeding. He slaughtered it and distributed the meat. When the group returned then at a stage, a man came riding a Bakhti camel and enquired whether among them was a man of such and such name. The man who saw the dream came forward and said he was that man. The man related his dream. The camel rider said the man of the grave was his father and he had directed him in a dream to give this camel to him. He gave the animal to the man and went away.”

Fazaail-e-A’maal, (Eng. Trans.), Virtues of Charity, Chapter.7, story no.16, p.193, (New Edition 1982, Published by Dini Book Depot – Delhi).

These Stories teach that the inhabitants of the graves can help the living. This belief forms the basis for Grave Worshipping. The Fazaail-e-A’maal promotes all these erroneous beliefs under the guise of virtues and exhortation. Those who expose themselves to the teachings of Fazaail-e-A’maal which include believing that the engraved can hear, see and help the living, will undoubtedly weaken their Tawheed and establish hope in other than the One, Who Alone has the Power to benefit and harm.